The Bermuda Hospitals Board has appointed a new director to head up an initiative that allows health professionals to keep up to date with the latest medical advances.

Anna Neilson-Williams will lead the Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Dr Neilson-Williams will be responsible for the management and development of the McGill University-accredited programme, which provides doctors, nurses and allied health professionals with a schedule of regular presentations by international and local physicians and other healthcare experts.

The presentations are designed to educate attendees on advances in medicine, technology, research and changes in the healthcare environment.

Supported by a full-time CME co-ordinator, Scymone DeVent, the position is not full-time and Dr Neilson-Williams will continue as a consultant psychiatrist and Deputy Chief of Psychiatry at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, with responsibility for community mental health service users from the eastern part of the Island and the psychogeriatric population. She is also the resident co-ordinator for the junior psychiatry team.

BHB Chief of Staff, Dr Michael Weitekamp said: “The ability for physicians, nurses and allied healthcare workers to remain informed about the latest advances in medicine require a strong CME programme to be in place. I am very pleased to welcome Dr Neilson-Williams to this role and would like to thank Dr Sharon Alikhani, BHB’s Director of Palliative Care, for all her work in this role since she took up the post in November 2010.”

A graduate in medicine at Glasgow University, Scotland, Dr Neilson-Williams has worked for BHB since 2000, initially as a resident psychiatrist from the Edinburgh training scheme where she completed her training in psychiatry.

Dr Neilson-Williams has also had experience in general practice in Bermuda and has also worked in BHB’s Continuing Care Unit and the hospital’s former medical clinic.

She was appointed as a Consultant Psychiatrist in 2009 and Deputy Chief of Psychiatry in 2011.

Dr Neilson-Williams completed a Masters in Transcultural Mental Health, through Queen Mary’s, The University of London, UK with distinction in 2012. She is a member of the Diversity committee and has been part of the CME Committee for the past three years.